New York state Sen. Chris Ryan is calling for a greater understanding in what the state’s transition to clean energy will look like especially for areas where he says energy policy goes hand in hand with a town’s economic future.
“We have to get the energy up on the grid,” said Ryan. “We have to. I’m not saying we speed it up. I’m just saying I think our timeline is where we need to be.”
Ryan is advocating for his district, which covers a large portion of Central New York, including the suburbs of Syracuse and extending into parts of Oswego County, to be a site for a new nuclear energy plant as part of the state’s initiative to meet goals set forth in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act signed into law seven years ago.
“We have site readiness,” said Ryan. “It’s approved. They’re already there. We already have the nuclear reactors. I think putting it there is a good fit. I think the community itself is embracing of the technology and we’re lobbying for it in a bipartisan effort.”
Ryan recently published an op-ed in Empire Report calling on the state to have a clear understanding of what the transition to clean energy will be specifically when it comes to a town’s economic future including jobs and tax revenue.
Raya Salter, the executive director of the Energy Justice Law & Policy Center, says clean energy jobs can be beneficial to communities.
“Nuclear, when you’re talking about jobs, you’re talking about really expensive jobs,” said Salter. “A huge amount of money spent to create a relatively few jobs. When you talk about clean energy more broadly, particularly energy efficiency, you’re seeing a lot of robust jobs that also have a tremendous amount of benefits for clean energy.”
Mark Dunlea, chair of the Green Education and Legal Fund, has another idea he believes is more cost effective than nuclear.
“One of the things the state should do is to develop a real plan on how we can meet the state’s energy needs with wind and solar conservation, energy efficiency,” said Dunlea. “It needs to provide more money to residents and homeowners who want to put in solar or geothermal in their homes.”
Dunlea says climate change continues to accelerate and that the war in Iran has highlighted New York’s dependency on oil and fossil fuels. He recommends the state move to a safe energy future that will save in terms of costs and reduce the impact of global warming.